Dell brings baseball, fashion designs to PCs

Dell Inc is offering computers with Major League Baseball logos and nail polish colors, the computer's latest effort to target its PCs at specific consumer segments.

Just in time for the baseball playoffs, Dell said on Wednesday it will offer Mini, Inspiron and Studio laptops decked out in MLB team colors and logos.

At the same time, the world's No. 2 PC company will target a different demographic by teaming with nail polish company OPI to sell PCs in 26 new colors including one called I'm Not Really a Waitress.

The partnerships provide the latest evidence of a personalization trend throughout the PC industry. As computers have become commoditized products with less and less differentiation on the performance side, design has become a key selling point.

Dell started with simple colors, expanded into artwork and is now offering a new level of customization. Last summer, the company started selling a Nickelodeon-branded PC for children.

These notebooks are such a form of self-expression for people, said Alex Gruzen, senior vice president in Dell's consumer product group. It's a canvas for people to say a little something about themselves.

Gruzen said consumers can expect to see new branding partnerships in the future.

Customers can order the MLB and OPI notebooks through Dell's online design studio. The company charges an additional $85 for personalized designs on full-featured laptops.

Dell said its also adding a new crop of artists' images to the store, bringing the total to more than 300 designs and colors.